Wasatch Range

The Wasatch Range is a mountain range in the western United States, running through northern Utah and extending into southeastern Idaho. Its steep western front rises above the Great Salt Lake and Utah’s urban corridor.

Wasatch Fault: A system of normal faults along the western base of the Wasatch Range in Utah. Its movement helped create the range’s steep western front and the adjoining valleys.
Normal fault: A fracture in Earth’s crust along which one block moves downward relative to another. Normal faulting along the range’s western side produced its sharp mountain front.
Great Salt Lake watershed: The area whose streams and rivers drain into the Great Salt Lake. Wasatch snowmelt supplies much of the freshwater flowing into this watershed.
Mount Timpanogos: A prominent 11,752-foot peak in the Wasatch Range of central Utah. Its summit and cirques exemplify the range’s high, glaciated terrain.
Basin and Range Province: A vast region of western North America marked by alternating mountain ranges and sediment-filled basins. The Wasatch marks the eastern edge of this province in northern Utah.
Extensional tectonics: The stretching and thinning of Earth’s crust that can form faults and rift basins. Crustal extension shaped the Wasatch and the adjacent valleys.
Wasatch Front: Utah’s densely populated urban corridor along the western base of the Wasatch Range. The range borders the region where much of Utah’s population and infrastructure are concentrated.
Lone Peak Wilderness: A protected wilderness area in the central Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Its rugged alpine terrain preserves a largely roadless section of the range.
Great Salt Lake: A saline lake in northern Utah, the largest remnant of prehistoric Lake Bonneville. The lake lies directly west of the range and shapes its climate and landscape.
Isostasy: The gravitational balance between Earth’s crust and the denser mantle beneath it. Crustal uplift and adjustment contribute to the range’s elevation and changing relief.

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